[Game Review) Red Dead Redemption (Xbox 360, PS3)

System: Xbox 360, PS3
Developer:
Rockstar San Diego/North
Publisher: Rockstar Games
Genre: Action Adventure

Earlier in the year Rockstar hit the dusty trail with what was sure to be their new giant, Red Dead Redemption. The old western “GTA Goes West” is just that, a sandbox action game set in a fictitious area on the US/Mexico border circa 1910. The Old West is a dying place, industrial revolution, Federal government, and all sorts of new found trickery and deceit have made their way across the Mississippi and into Rockstar’s final bastion for Cowboys, Indians, and outlaws.

The game starts off by introducing us to John Marston, our stoic cowboy anti-hero who is being lead off a boat into a small town, Blackwater. The cutscene continues with two men, clad in suits, bowlers, and sporting badges, escorting John to an expecting locomotive, with a trio sharing a few back and forths. Jon takes a long train ride far into the heart of the state, all the while hearing conversation from two snoody rich ladies, and a young woman talking to a priest. After following a bit more of this linear, cutscene-infused prologue before Rockstar cuts you lose into the Old West.

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[Game Review] Army of Two: The 40th Day

System: Xbox 360, PS3 (Also on: PSP)
Developer: EA Montreal
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Genre: Third-person Shooter

Some of you may be familiar with a game that dropped a few years back called Army of Two. It was a third person shooter much akin to Gears of war, but it featured two bad ass ex army rangers turned mercenaries. The game boasted the use of co-op (both AI and a second person) to complete the game’s many missions set across the globe and the past two decades.

You play as Salem or Rios. Salem is a wise cracking little guy with a temper to boot and a trigger finger to match. Rios is a lumbering behemoth who, though bearing the face of one caught making out with a wood chipper, is more subtle and easy going. (Easy going for a Bad ass Ex Army Ranger turned merc that is.) Continue reading

[Game Review] Borderlands (Xbox 360)

System: Xbox 360 (Also on: PS3, PC)
Developer: Gearbox Software
Publisher: 2K Games
Genre: FPRPG (First-Person Role-Playing Game)

I first heard about borderlands through a mailing list from Gearbox Software, the company behind the game. For months I waited eagerly as more information about this new FPS/RPG surfaced, and about how wicked awesome the designers promised it would be. Now that the game is finally out, I am here to inform you that it is, in fact, wicked awesome. Continue reading